9-20-10 September 20 2010 Update

There are many accolades used to describe Jennie –Olympic champion, World Champion, national champion, softball icon, fashion model, photographic beauty, doting wife and mother (the two that mean the most to her). Now, add gritty professional.

Suffering from fever and a badly bruised shin (hit during the KFC Cup), Jennie went to the hospital last Wednesday and was rushed into surgery where doctors cut into her leg to remove the infection. As Jennie wrote on her Twitter account, she was sustained by her two aces – husband Casey and son Ace. Jennie was kept overnight again on Thursday, but after she was taken off IV on Friday, she announced she was heading for Radford, VA, for a Jennie Finch Softball Camp. She had 420 girls waiting for her and Jennie was determined not to disappoint them.

Jennie did not let a cancelled flight deter her; unfortunately, the delay meant that after Radford coach Mickey Dean picked her up in Charlotte, Jennie joined her camp compadres at 3am. Still pain and sleep deprived, Jennie managed her camp all day Saturday and again on Sunday. Not a walk in the park; Mickey took Jennie to a local hospital three times to have the wound drained.

Undaunted, Jennie informed Mizuno she would keep her appointment in Canada this coming weekend.

Any number of softball players have performed through pain, and Jennie is no stranger to pain – I watched her win the World Series in 2001 with a sore arm. But, her commitment to those young players stands in sharp contrast to slackers like Albert Haynesworth who use the slightest excuse to take a seat – despite receiving guaranteed funds that exceed the combined budgets for ISF, USA Softball and NPF.

SPY SOFTBALL MAGAZINE IS BACK ON LINE

With three features to be added tonight, Spy Softball magazine.com is back online. SPY has renewed the domain and bought a one-year renewal with a hosting service. The September issue includes several photo displays plus some feature articles. The magazine uses Contribute2 software, so, naturally, I had to go through the instructional video to begin posting. This is a subscription service through PayPal.

Distressing to learn that Ray Chandler, long-time coach of the Carolina Cardinals and friend to so many in softball, fell ill during the ESPN Rise Premier tournament in California during the first week in August and remains in intensive care in a California hospital. SPY received the following note from Richmond Diamonds coach Walter Pettus:

Ray started feeling bad on the airplane going to California for the Premier Girls Fastpitch Nationals Tournament. When he go to California it got worse. On Friday August 13th he went to the ER at Orange County Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California. They put in the critical care unit and he has been on a ventilator ever since. He had a lot of congestion and infection in his lungs. They check for a number of different infections and determined that his heart was not puming strong enough to keep his lungs clear. They did a trachiotomy to make the ventilator more comfortable. Ray’s wife has told Walter that he can’t move his legs or arms.

Walter has talked to Ray’s wife a number of times the last being September 17th. She has been out in California with him the entire time. Walter suggests that anyone that knows Ray well could call his wife Sharyn at 336-408-8648

Any one interested in joining the Richmond Diamonds fund raising efforts can send checks for Sharyn Chandler to Walter at:

Walter Pettus

7507 Donder Rd.

Richmond, VA 23204

or call for more information at 804-270-3845. Anyone that knows Walter knows they will be talking to Walter thru his wife.